As you all know, Im a semi-professional football player who has some left ankle difficulties.
I have suffered various sprains, had a bone spur surgically removed and have a lot of loose
ligaments etc in the area. It feels as it is mildy arthritic or im suffering from mild tendonitis.
I think I might go visit my ankle surgeon soon to see what he thinks…
At the moment I do ankle mobility drills and foam rolling almost every day. I also
use a strassburg sock a couple nights a week.
Question is: would is to be ok to take some ibuprofen once a week before my weekly game?
Would this have any long term side effects? Would it benefit me long term? Would it help recovery
or just mask symptoms? I would be only taking it once a week for about 25 weeks straight.
I already take fish oil and Im thinking about trying out curcumin.
Thanks in advance.
Definitely go with circumin. As for the IBU, in that low dosage I don’t see there being any big negative side effects. It would help decrease the inflammation, so it is arguable whether it is masking the issue or helping with recovery. On one hand, you are not fixing the issue that is causing the inflammation, but on the other you may have an issue that you can’t fully remove without invasive intervention (bone spur, etc).
I will forewarn with this though - I have worked with athletes in the past who have said “I will just take it before games, etc” but then end up slowly increase the dosage and frequency of taking the IBU. So just be sure to stick with your merits and limit you consumption to what you plan. Also, do not neglect the other stuff that you are already doing - foam rolling, straussburg sock, mobility drills, etc. I would also begin a compression (and ice if you feel it helps) regiment post training as well.
Take a look into traction therapy as well. I have found some great results with chronic ankle problems by using traction based therapy. The book “Don’t Ice That Ankle” gives some great insight into the reasoning behind the approach and gives examples of how to do it on your own with some jump stretch bands.
i have found that when you are recovering from these types of things, the more foam rolling the better. once every two years or so I’ll get some kind of hip issue. and when it happens, i will foam roll when i wake up several times throughout the day and before bed, along with the mobility drills.
how familiar are you with the function of the ankle? do you notice any particular ROM issues ?
Levelhead:
Im going to look into “traction therapy”. Tonight I started adding
some tumeric and black pepper to my chicken and will do so with my eggs
in the morning. Im going with your advice and Im going to take IBU only for
game day. Im not too keen on icing…I dont get home until about an hour
after the game. Would you recommend alternating between icing and heat?
Billy D:
Yes, foam rolling makes a huge difference. Ive really been rolling my left foot
planta fascia and it has made a huge difference to the flexibility. 4 weeks ago, rolling
hurt like a bitch, while now it feels more like the other foot.
Im not too sure about the function of my ankle except that dorsiflexion feels limited/tight
compared tpo the other, and I often feel my planta fascia tightening as I walk. I often here
a clicking sound when I do the opposite of dorsiflexion and it can be loud. I remember
asking my surgeon about it, and he said “dont worry, my knee cracks all the time etc etc”.
Im thinking about getting a second opinion.
[quote]plateaubuster wrote:
as a pro athlete you must supplement yourself, ie. amimal felx, cissus
ibu will hurt your stomach and will only temporarily alleviate pain[/quote]
Ive never hears of felx and cissus??
Care to elaborate? Ill do some googling aswell…
tweet tweet[/quote]
running puts heavy stress on your joints, we humans were just not naturally designed for long periods of running with heavy weights over ourselves. With supplementation, your joints will heal quickly and strenghten, which means you’ll prevent injury in the long run.
[quote]alexus wrote:
what were we designed for?[/quote]
Ive been thinking about this question alot recently, and after a week of a sore back
and the past year of limping due to my ankle, Im convinced the human
body was built to last 35-45 years.